Penicillin
Honey, ginger, peat smoke.
A Scotch whisky sour with fresh ginger and honey, finished with a float of peaty Islay malt that perfumes every sip. Warm, spicy and smoky, it became a modern classic within a few years.
- IBA · New Era
- After dinner
- Shaken
- Glass
- Rocks glass
- Method
- Shaken
- Strength
- Medium
- Time
- 4 min
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Ice
- Cubes
Ingredients
Measures for 1 serving
-
Fresh ginger
2 slices
-
Scotch whisky
60 ml
-
Lemon juice
22.5 ml
-
Honey syrup
22.5 ml
-
Islay Scotch whisky
7.5 ml
Garnish
- Candied ginger
Proportions
How to make
- Chill an old fashioned glass.
- Muddle the fresh ginger in a shaker.
- Add the blended Scotch.
- Add the lemon juice.
- Add the honey syrup.
- Fill with ice and shake.
- Fill the chilled glass with ice.
- Fine strain into the glass.
- Float the Lagavulin on top.
- Garnish with candied ginger.
The story
Origins
DocumentedOrigin attested by written sources of the time.
The Penicillin was created in 2005 by Sam Ross, an Australian bartender who had arrived in New York the year before, at Milk & Honey in New York. Ross started from the Gold Rush, a honey whiskey sour born at the same bar, replacing bourbon with blended Scotch, splitting the sweetness between honey and ginger and adding a few drops of peated whisky on top. The name recalls 'Jewish penicillin', the chicken soup regarded as a home remedy. Added to Little Branch's 'Bartender's Choice' menu and taken by Ross to Los Angeles in 2007, the drink spread quickly among bartenders worldwide.
Sources (3)
Taste profile
- Strong
- 3 out of 5
- Spicy
- 3 out of 5
- Sour
- 3 out of 5
- Smoky
- 3 out of 5
- Sweet
- 2 out of 5